Read--in Japanese--about a tiny, yet brave samurai who ends up saving a princess and seeing his wish come true. The second story is the famous moon-princess Kaguya, who was found in a bamboo stalk. Kaguya-hime is one of the oldest Japanese tales and perhaps the world’s first science fiction story.

Yes, you can read real Japanese—even if you are just starting out in Japanese.

Perfect for beginning and upper beginning students of Japanese who have mastered hiragana and know basic Japanese grammar and sentence structure. This affordable Japanese reader contains two complete stories of very famous Japanese traditional tales.

PLUS! Get FREE Sound Files of the stories read by a native Japanese speaker. Listen while reading. Each story has a slow and normal speed recording. The link is found on the last page.

• All Japanese have furigana

• Two full traditional Japanese stories: Inch-high Samurai and Princess Kaguya

• Every sentence is broken down word-for-word and with explanation of the grammar.

• The full story in Japanese only (without the running gloss) is also provided so you can practice reading without interruption.

• Finally, we have included a simple and mostly literal English translation for you to check your understanding (Don’t cheat! Work through the Japanese first!).

• Download the FREE sound files to listen while you study.

• Download FREE Anki flashcard decks to learn all the vocabulary found in the stories

While beginners to Japanese can get a lot from this, hiragana knowledge and understanding of basic Japanese grammar and sentence structure is required.

Finally, we invite the reader to contact us with questions or requests for future Japanese readers. You will find our personal email addresses in the book. To your Japanese!